Coin operated vending machines for dispensing bulk merchandise, so called "bulk vendors", are widely used to dispense small vendible items. Such machines were initially restricted to dispensing gumballs and like articles, which by virtue of their hard spherical configuration are ideally suited to be dispensed from a bulk vendor. However, more recently a wide variety of articles of various sizes can be found in bulk vendors of this type, including toys and confectioneries. Frequently such an article will be packaged in a rigid capsule of more or less spherical or spheroidal configuration.
The wide variety of articles now available to be dispensed from a bulk vendor has given rise to certain problems. In particular, bulk vendors are typically designed to accommodate articles of a certain size. Thus, in conventional bulk vendors a series of resilient springs, known as "brushes", extend radially above the dispensing wheel, over the dispensing aperture, and operate to deflect loose articles in the product bin away from the dispensing aperture, so that only the articles carried in one of the containers formed in the dispensing wheel will be dispensed with each coin inserted into the vendor. The brushes are fixed at a height above the dispensing wheel that permits articles in an advancing container to pass underneath the brushes, while articles resting on the dispensing wheel outside of the container are deflected over the brushes as the wheel advances.
Brushes of this design present a number of disadvantages. First, since the brushes are anchored only at their outer ends, the inner ends of the brushes are readily deflected by loose articles entrained in the flow of articles in the product bin. This can permit unintended access to the dispensing aperture resulting in a greater number of articles being dispensed than are carried in the container, with attendant costs to the operator. Moreover, since the brushes are anchored to the brush housing at a fixed height, designed according to the size of article intended to be dispensed, a bulk vendor so equipped will not readily dispense larger articles and will tend to over-dispense smaller articles which, although not seated in a container, may nevertheless squeeze under the brushes.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing means for adjusting the height of the brushes, that is the clearance between the brushes and the dispensing wheel. In a preferred embodiment such means may include a bushing engaged over the axle of the dispensing wheel having notches adapted to engage an adjusting ring to which the inner ends of the brushes are anchored. Thus, in accordance with the present invention the brushes are anchored at both ends, reducing the degree of both lateral and vertical deflection under the force of loose articles in the product bin. Moreover, the height of the brushes can be readily adjusted simply by manually disengaging the adjusting ring from a notch and re-engaging the ring in another notch in the bushing.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the brushes are frustoconical, with the larger ends anchored to the brush housing and the smaller ends anchored to the locking ring. This minimizes gaps between brushes and helps to resist penetration between brushes by loose articles.